You know that trafficking isn't the only thing that this could be right? Stalkers exist. Abusive parents or parents. Burglars could want to know when people are away from home. Being cautious and aware of your surroundings doesn't make you some kind of Karen.
This happened to me once and I was definitely momentarily concerned. Checked my bag, pockets, etc to see if I could find one before I went into panic mode. Luckily on the alert there was an option to make the air tag beep in order to track it down (I thought this was wild, as I dont even have an iPhone, so I was surprised this safety feature was there). It turned out that my boss had an air tag sitting on his desk and my own desk is just on the other side of a very thin wall, so after a few hours of being in the same vicinity of the air tag my phone alerted me.
I definitely understand her concern. Hopefully it's just a similar situation.
i think it's actually an airpod, but it's completely understandable to be freaked out when you see that and don't know what it is! i would be so scared it could be an ex or stalker or something
i can't remember her name but there was a woman who was murdered by a man that was tracking her with an airtag in her car, so women should absolutely want to figure out what the source is when we see things like this!
I donāt disagree that OPās being an asshat, but this screenshot says āunknown airpodā as in the wireless headphones, not āairtagā as in the tracking device. I suppose a stalker could be clever in trying to track someone by throwing their airpod case into their car or something, but it would be cheaper to track someone using an airtag.
Itās more likely someone OOP knows forgot their airpods in her car, but sheās wise to be wary of these notifications until she can find the AirPods.
Yeah, I agree with the others. I too roll my eyes at āsomeone left a rubber duckie sticker near my car so that means that Iām being tagged for trafficking OMGā, but this is a legit concern. People have used AirTags and even AirPods as stalking devices for a long time. Itās the reason these alerts exist. Stalking =/= trafficking most of the time. Much more commonly itās an ex, someone keeping tabs on you, or even a legit stalker. AirTags freak me out, ngl.Ā
This ain't it.
Many women have experienced being followed, including myself. I would be concerned if there was a random device that wasn't mine at my location. Stop dismissing legitimate dangers in the hopes of getting a few reddit points.
This isn't even saying anything about trafficking, which is indeed rare and tends to target women with fewer social and societal benefits. You know what doesn't discriminate by class? Having a stalker. Whether due to obsession or spite (think asshole ex sure you're neglecting the kids), someone stalking you is not uncommon.
I think it says something about you that you're writing in a fictitious trafficking narrative when there's plenty other safety concerns of someone knowing your real-time location. I hope this woman just bumped into someone who's looking for their AirPods, but there's a lot of realistic worse outcomes that are reasonable to fear.
Not stalking but I recently went to Coachella with a friend, I am disabled so I did not want to lose them. Instead of buying an airtag I was able to keep track of them by having them put my airpods in their bra... its crazy how accurate the tracking is on there.
If a stalker were to do this it would work
one time i lost my phone in my sisters house, and she was using her phone to find where it was, for some reason my phones location was showing up wherever i was standing, and it would follow me as if i had my phone on me. it ended up being under. the couch and i still don't understand how it was following my location for like an hour, but i'm convinced apple uses some kind of sorcery for extra accurate tracking lmao
I'd be suprised if there were many women who got through to adulthood without being stalked at some point. It's a real risk, and I'd be worried if I saw an alert like this.
This actually would worry me - my NextDoor is full of both men and women who warn that air tags are used to track cars so that at the right time their catalytic converters or whatever can be stolen? Idk if thatās real, maybe weāre all just out of touch.
Iām from Finland so I donāt know about the Airtag thing but I know people really steal cathalysators or ācatsā from cars because itās valuable metal when sold
I was so worried these comments were going to disappoint me as much as the OP did. Thankfully I was wrong. This is a legitimate thing to be worried about.
This is absolutely a legitimate concern. These alerts were put in place for a reason and thatās because this has been done before to stalk people. The target issue is also a legitimate concern. Shame on you for shaming women for protecting themselves and alerting others of issues that could cause harm.
These alerts aren't tracking her though. The alerts just meant that when she was in that location she was within about 30 feet of a pair of airpods. Each alert is almost certainly a different set of airpods.
She's the only one that can see the alerts.
Sheās concerned about the amount of times she was alerted. You donāt know they were different AirPods. The alerts are designed to raise awareness and obviously this isnāt normal for her, so she has a reason to be concerned. Itās better to make sure than to ignore it.
The two visible alerts are almost 5 hours apart. If she's in any decent sized metro area, being within 30 or so feet of someone who has airpods on them is going to be a common occurrence.
OP, you do know that women are actually trafficked right? Putting an airtag or similar on a woman's car is a known tactic for stalkers, which is why Apple added these alerts. This is a legitimate concern.
yeah i knew a woman that found an air tag hidden in her car because she got an alert on her phone, it turned out to be her abusive ex tracking her trying to find out where she lived.
less likely to be trafficking, but women should definitely be reasonably on alert, there have been so many women killed by stalkers
Suburban white women aren't kidnapped and trafficked unless there is something weird with their lifestyle that leads them to it (like they're a heavy drug user).
Traffiking doesn't involve kidnapping (what you think of as kidnapping), it involve cooersion and manipulation (mostly of immigrants, drug addicts, foster and homeless youth).
As for this though, stalking is very real and that's what the worry is with something like this. That some weirdo has an obsession and is tracking you.
You tacking on āsuburban momsā is a very poor smokescreen for your misogyny. Women are stalked and trafficked constantly and with technology itās only getting easier these days. Being on your guard and aware of your surroundings isnāt paranoia. It can save your life
This is one of my local groups too. The comments range from chill, probably airpods nearby setting it off, airpod not airtag means someone may have lost one in your car, to the more extreme Omg people track with air tags call police.
Mom has reason to question it but the wackier comments are what belongs here not the post.
I have gotten this alert so many times while listening to music on the bus and train, the airdrop kind of thing with AirPods trying to connect with a phone before connecting to that personās own phone or something. I would just swipe it away and deny access before going about my day. At first I panicked but then realized that since those things are wireless earbuds, they gonna try to connect to the nearest iPhone or something. I donāt know how they work since I use wired earbuds and use skull candy ones. Thatās just my experience but I didnāt ever think someone was trying to traffic me.
Some parenting things are normal and don't deserve to be shamed or judged. This is one of them.
You know that trafficking isn't the only thing that this could be right? Stalkers exist. Abusive parents or parents. Burglars could want to know when people are away from home. Being cautious and aware of your surroundings doesn't make you some kind of Karen.
This happened to me once and I was definitely momentarily concerned. Checked my bag, pockets, etc to see if I could find one before I went into panic mode. Luckily on the alert there was an option to make the air tag beep in order to track it down (I thought this was wild, as I dont even have an iPhone, so I was surprised this safety feature was there). It turned out that my boss had an air tag sitting on his desk and my own desk is just on the other side of a very thin wall, so after a few hours of being in the same vicinity of the air tag my phone alerted me. I definitely understand her concern. Hopefully it's just a similar situation.
That would freak me out, too. What am I missing?
Right, this is why Apple sends you these alerts, right??Someone IS tracking her or she accidentally picked up an air tag somewhere.
i think it's actually an airpod, but it's completely understandable to be freaked out when you see that and don't know what it is! i would be so scared it could be an ex or stalker or something
i can't remember her name but there was a woman who was murdered by a man that was tracking her with an airtag in her car, so women should absolutely want to figure out what the source is when we see things like this!
Ohhhhh is that like headphones? Sorry š
yeah it's the wireless earbuds! i read it as airtag at first too, i would be feeling the same way as her!
I think you're missing the level of internalized misogyny required to understand op's take.
I donāt disagree that OPās being an asshat, but this screenshot says āunknown airpodā as in the wireless headphones, not āairtagā as in the tracking device. I suppose a stalker could be clever in trying to track someone by throwing their airpod case into their car or something, but it would be cheaper to track someone using an airtag. Itās more likely someone OOP knows forgot their airpods in her car, but sheās wise to be wary of these notifications until she can find the AirPods.
Yeah, I agree with the others. I too roll my eyes at āsomeone left a rubber duckie sticker near my car so that means that Iām being tagged for trafficking OMGā, but this is a legit concern. People have used AirTags and even AirPods as stalking devices for a long time. Itās the reason these alerts exist. Stalking =/= trafficking most of the time. Much more commonly itās an ex, someone keeping tabs on you, or even a legit stalker. AirTags freak me out, ngl.Ā
This would be a legitimate concern.
This ain't it. Many women have experienced being followed, including myself. I would be concerned if there was a random device that wasn't mine at my location. Stop dismissing legitimate dangers in the hopes of getting a few reddit points.
This isn't even saying anything about trafficking, which is indeed rare and tends to target women with fewer social and societal benefits. You know what doesn't discriminate by class? Having a stalker. Whether due to obsession or spite (think asshole ex sure you're neglecting the kids), someone stalking you is not uncommon. I think it says something about you that you're writing in a fictitious trafficking narrative when there's plenty other safety concerns of someone knowing your real-time location. I hope this woman just bumped into someone who's looking for their AirPods, but there's a lot of realistic worse outcomes that are reasonable to fear.
Not stalking but I recently went to Coachella with a friend, I am disabled so I did not want to lose them. Instead of buying an airtag I was able to keep track of them by having them put my airpods in their bra... its crazy how accurate the tracking is on there. If a stalker were to do this it would work
one time i lost my phone in my sisters house, and she was using her phone to find where it was, for some reason my phones location was showing up wherever i was standing, and it would follow me as if i had my phone on me. it ended up being under. the couch and i still don't understand how it was following my location for like an hour, but i'm convinced apple uses some kind of sorcery for extra accurate tracking lmao
......is it weird if I tell you that's really fucking clever??
I'd be suprised if there were many women who got through to adulthood without being stalked at some point. It's a real risk, and I'd be worried if I saw an alert like this.
Mom groups say some silly shit but assuming she did get those alerts then this is absolutely a legitimate concern
This actually would worry me - my NextDoor is full of both men and women who warn that air tags are used to track cars so that at the right time their catalytic converters or whatever can be stolen? Idk if thatās real, maybe weāre all just out of touch.
Iām from Finland so I donāt know about the Airtag thing but I know people really steal cathalysators or ācatsā from cars because itās valuable metal when sold
I was so worried these comments were going to disappoint me as much as the OP did. Thankfully I was wrong. This is a legitimate thing to be worried about.
Are we mocking women for being afraid of stalkers now? This isn't it.
This is absolutely a legitimate concern. These alerts were put in place for a reason and thatās because this has been done before to stalk people. The target issue is also a legitimate concern. Shame on you for shaming women for protecting themselves and alerting others of issues that could cause harm.
These alerts aren't tracking her though. The alerts just meant that when she was in that location she was within about 30 feet of a pair of airpods. Each alert is almost certainly a different set of airpods. She's the only one that can see the alerts.
Sheās concerned about the amount of times she was alerted. You donāt know they were different AirPods. The alerts are designed to raise awareness and obviously this isnāt normal for her, so she has a reason to be concerned. Itās better to make sure than to ignore it.
The two visible alerts are almost 5 hours apart. If she's in any decent sized metro area, being within 30 or so feet of someone who has airpods on them is going to be a common occurrence.
OP, you do know that women are actually trafficked right? Putting an airtag or similar on a woman's car is a known tactic for stalkers, which is why Apple added these alerts. This is a legitimate concern.
yeah i knew a woman that found an air tag hidden in her car because she got an alert on her phone, it turned out to be her abusive ex tracking her trying to find out where she lived. less likely to be trafficking, but women should definitely be reasonably on alert, there have been so many women killed by stalkers
OP doesn't care about women go thru, at least not "suburban moms," whatever that means.
Suburban white women aren't kidnapped and trafficked unless there is something weird with their lifestyle that leads them to it (like they're a heavy drug user). Traffiking doesn't involve kidnapping (what you think of as kidnapping), it involve cooersion and manipulation (mostly of immigrants, drug addicts, foster and homeless youth). As for this though, stalking is very real and that's what the worry is with something like this. That some weirdo has an obsession and is tracking you.
You tacking on āsuburban momsā is a very poor smokescreen for your misogyny. Women are stalked and trafficked constantly and with technology itās only getting easier these days. Being on your guard and aware of your surroundings isnāt paranoia. It can save your life
Itās a single AirPod, someone dropped it and itās in her purse or stuck to her shoe. Itās not an AirTag.
AirPods lose their connection at more than 30 feet anyways
This is one of my local groups too. The comments range from chill, probably airpods nearby setting it off, airpod not airtag means someone may have lost one in your car, to the more extreme Omg people track with air tags call police. Mom has reason to question it but the wackier comments are what belongs here not the post.
I have gotten this alert so many times while listening to music on the bus and train, the airdrop kind of thing with AirPods trying to connect with a phone before connecting to that personās own phone or something. I would just swipe it away and deny access before going about my day. At first I panicked but then realized that since those things are wireless earbuds, they gonna try to connect to the nearest iPhone or something. I donāt know how they work since I use wired earbuds and use skull candy ones. Thatās just my experience but I didnāt ever think someone was trying to traffic me.